The field of the invention relates to amusement rides, shows or attractions.
Amusement or theatrical attractions have long been employed to give guests the impression of movement in various fantasy worlds. For example, almost 100 years ago, a theatrical scenic apparatus was described (in U.S. Pat. No. 817,577) in which patrons can view scenic effects as they travel up and down in elevators suspended from pulleys. Similarly, a Subterranean Exhibition Apparatus (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 482,736) was intended to give patrons the effect of traveling down into a subterranean world which the patrons can explore.
In another technique using elevators, (as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 797,372) an amusement ride simulates an elevator car that travels to a subterranean location. The elevator car simulates upward and downward movement of the patrons. Adjacent to the elevator are two compartments suspended over a well by a cable and pulley system attached to a counterbalancing weight to permit the compartments to move up and down. When the guests are located in the elevator car, the adjacent compartments are raised or lowered into position adjacent the elevator car. The attraction creates the impression on the passengers of traveling from the surface of the earth to a subterranean location, then returning to the surface.
While these and other designs may have been successful in their era, none of them were able to create the illusion of being magically transported to another location nearly instantaneously, and without actually physically moving the guests or audience.
Unlike these known attractions, an attraction having a feature that imparts on the guests the feeling of being nearly instantly transported to another location is desirable. In such attraction or show, the guests would be baffled and astonished as to how they were magically transported to another location without experiencing any movement.
Consequently, there remains a need for an amusement attraction or show that gives the guests the feeling of being transported to another location without the guests experiencing any feeling of physical movement. The guests would thus feel as if they had been nearly instantaneously transported, in an unperceived way, to a different location within the amusement ride.